Your Advice Team

We aim to ensure that all clients are fully aware of their rights and responsibilities, so that they can have the optimal student experience at the University of Hertfordshire.

We will provide accurate, up-to-date and relevant information to enable clients to make informed decisions regarding issues affecting them.

We will provide professional advice and support to assist clients in resolving their problems, and signpost clients to other professional services which can offer further support also.

We will give free, impartial and non-judgmental advice and will respect client confidentiality at all times within the service*.

We will monitor case trends and use our insight to inform plans for positive initiatives which aim to either benefit students and/or enhance the student experience.

We will ensure that our standard of service is of the highest quality and strive for the continuous improvement and professional development of the Advice Team.

We are committed to actively promoting equality of opportunity, access and care; following the principles of FREDIE. FREDIE stands for fairness, respect, equality, diversity, inclusion and engagement.

*All details will remain secure and will not be passed to any other organisation, subject to the exceptions listed in the 'principles' section of this page

Advice services are available from 10:00-16:00, Monday to Friday (excluding University Closed Days). The Advice & Support Team is based within the Hutton Hub Students’ Union Office on College Lane Campus.

Advice services can be provided in-person, either via pre-booked appointment or by visiting the office and requesting a same-day appointment. Advice services can also be provided via pre-booked online appointment (either via Microsoft Teams or Zoom) or telephone (01707 285022). Advice can also be provided via e-mail (advice@hertssu.com).

The Advice Team also have access to a small consultation room within the Students’ Union Office on the De Havilland Campus; in which students can pre-book in-person appointments with the Advice & Support Team (term-time only and subject to Adviser availability).

The Advice & Support Team reserve the right to cancel any appointments at short notice, where completely necessary, but will offer an alternative appointment time in its place.

Due to our levels of casework and involvement in other activities, we will strictly adhere to the opening times that have been stated above. We ask clients to respect this

Advice services may also be suspended in the interests of worker safety (for example, if an Adviser is the only member of staff working in the Students’ Union office). Due to our levels of casework and involvement in other activities, we will strictly adhere to the opening times that have been stated above; and we ask clients to respect this.

The Advice & Support Centre also runs the following specialist services:

• Sexual health kits
• Hate Crime Reporting

Free

Advice & Support services are offered to all clients free of charge

Confidential

The Students' Union Advice & Support team are delighted to offer a service of the highest standard. We are committed to safeguarding and preserving privacy and confidentiality at all times

The Advice & Support Centre provides a confidential service to all clients. An Adviser may discuss a client’s case with the other members of the Advice & Support team to ensure that the best possible support is provided, but cases will not be discussed with anyone outside of the Advice team without explicit consent

In exceptional circumstances we may be obliged to disclose information without your consent, such as where an Adviser believes that the safety of you or another person is at risk, or if we are required by law to break confidentiality. In these instances, the following areas may be contacted:

• Dean of Students – University of Hertfordshire
• Hertfordshire Constabulary (or the client’s local police team)
• Medical Centre – University of Hertfordshire
• NHS 999
• Student Wellbeing – University of Hertfordshire

Independent

The Advice & Support Centre is part of the Students’ Union, which is independent from the University. The University of Hertfordshire Students' Union © 2019. is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee, Company Number 7703890, Charity Registration 1143101.

Impartial

The advice and information that is provided is unbiased and not directed towards any viewpoint. The personal views of the Adviser are not reflected in the advice that is given

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

The Advice & Support Centre is committed to actively promoting equality of opportunity, access and care, following the principles of FREDIE: Fairness, Respect, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Engagement. Our team are committed to ensuring that all clients are treated fairly and respectfully; and will not discriminate on grounds of ethnic group or nationality, sex, gender, age, disability, marital status, family commitments, sexuality, political or religious beliefs. The service is accessible to all, and all clients’ problems will be treated in an equal regard.

Hertfordshire Students’ Union Advice & Support Centre staff record all enquiries from clients on AdvicePro, a system developed by AdviceUK & ACM Solutions. The information stored on this system is for the sole use of the Advice team and personal details will not be passed on to any other organisation (other than in exceptional circumstances)

“Legitimate interest” is our lawful basis for processing personal data, due to clients potentially wanting to evidence that they sought support from the service in the future. Consent is gained from clients prior to consultations wherever possible (in a written or electronic format). However, all contacts with the Advice & Support Centre are recorded to ensure that all advice work is logged and accounted for

The details that are collected by the Advice & Support Centre are the client’s name, student ID number, gender, date of birth, nationality, course name, year of study, School, mode of study (i.e. full-time or part-time), academic status (i.e. undergraduate or postgraduate), fee status (i.e. home or international), disability details, contact details and how the student heard about the service. Identifying data (such as a student ID number) is required for advice services to be offered. However, clients reserve the right to withhold other information if they wish to

Client contact details will not be used for any other purpose than to contact clients for case updates and feedback

Anonymous statistical data is collected and shared with the wider Students’ Union staff to support learning, inform campaigning and help with the development of the service. Anonymised statistical data may also be shared with the University with the aim of improving the student experience. All statistical reports are created so that individuals cannot be recognised. Clients reserve the right to request that their data is removed from statistical analysis and reporting. If a client wishes for their data to be omitted from statistical analysis and reporting, they must inform their Adviser

Clients have a number of rights that they can exercise regarding the processing and use of their personal data, such as the "right to be forgotten" and the "right to restrict processing". More information can be found here

Casework data will be kept for a period of six years, after which time all identifiable data will be destroyed. This destroyed data includes all personal data (including basic client details), contact details, equality monitoring information and all case notes/attachments kept on file. Other data may be retained for future benchmarking purposes

Hertfordshire Students’ Union is a data controller. The Union processes personal information relating to students, staff and visitors. The Board of Trustees delegates day-to-day responsibility for implementing this policy and related procedures to key personnel within the Union. The Students’ Union and its subsidiaries are registered as a Data Controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and renews these registrations annually

The Chief Executive Officer is the Students’ Union Data Protection Officer and is responsible for the implementation of the implementation of Hertfordshire Students’ Union’s Data Protection policy. You can contact the Data Protection Officer via contact@hertssu.com

If clients want to know what personal information the Advice & Support team holds for them, they can make a written request to the Advice & Support Centre Manager at advice@hertssu.com

If a client wishes to raise a concern or complaint about how personal data is used, they can do so by contacting the Advice & Support Centre Manager at advice@hertssu.com